Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Ever Changing Fate
by djb21212-Steeldramon21
Summary: Sequel to Ashes to Ashes. In Cosmic Era 0073, tension between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT once again flares. Athrun Zala returns to battle as he fights alongside Shinn Asuka, desperate to quell the burning flames of war once more. ::ON HIATUS::


Mobile Suit Gundam Seed  
Ever-Changing Fate  
Written by: djb21212

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed/Destiny is not owned by me. If it were, I'd ring Fukada's neck for screwing everything up.

Introduction: Well, here's the long-awaited sequel to "Ashes to Ashes" I promised. This time, unlike the previous story, it's a full rewrite of the series from start to finish. Also, I promised Athrun/Lacus fans that this one would be for them and I'm sticking to that, however the story will not revolve around them nor the coupling in general. With that in mind, enjoy this story and send a review.

(Prologue)

The year is Cosmic Era 0073. Nearly two years have passed since the Earth Alliance forces and the military forces of ZAFT signed a peace treaty to end the war between them. In that time, a mysterious faction named the GHOST Armada had risen from the ashes of the previous conflict. Led my a man named Victor Murdock, they had intended to wage a new war upon the already-ravaged Earth as well as the PLANTs.

Kira Yamato, having lost faith in himself as well as the world around him, had disappeared from the scope of his friend and loved ones only to be reborn as Heero Shinigami, the "One True God of Death". He had eventually joined GHOST under his pseudonym and, utilizing a stolen prototype named ZGMF-X10A-R Reverse Freedom, had given new meaning to his new name by destroying several Alliance and ZAFT warships.

After destroying several outposts for the Earth Alliance's California base, "Heero" briefly stopped in the Orb Kingdom to see Cagalli Yula Attha, now the full leader of the desert land while it was being rebuilt. A brief discussion between them yielded an incredible truth: the belief that Cagalli and Kira were siblings, something reinforced by an old photograph, was a lie. "Heero", concerned over Cagalli's frame of mind after the newfound revelation, tried to comfort her but was then consumed by the call of his mobile suit's "PSYCHO" system. The system, while giving the user unheard-of abilities with a mobile weapons platform, would also render the user's mind unstable and unpredictable. It was this same system that placed "Heero" at constant odds with his original and true persona of Kira Yamato.

Seeing the emerging GHOST armada as a threat, the battleship Archangel is called on to investigate and prevent future threats from the mysterious organization. Still under the command of Murrue Ramias, the battleship returns to space along with their new allies: former ZAFT pilots Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman along with their Duel and Buster GUNDAMS. It was in a brief battle with GHOST that "Heero" fought his former comrades for the very first time. The entry of Orb's M1 Astray mobile suits, led by Cagalli's MBF-02 Strike Rouge, turned the tide in their favor as well as forced Kira to overcome his "Heero" persona once and for all.

Athrun Zala, son of deceased ZAFT leader Patrick Zala, had been trying to undo the damage his father's idealism had done and had heard about GHOST's intentions. He had gained access to the prototype ZGMF-X09-A2 Aegis Mark II thanks to the efforts of his former fiancée, Lacus Clyne. He left the PLANTs with the transformable mobile suit and joined the Archangel, where he was reunited with Kira for the first time since the previous war's end.

Kira, now free of his "Heero Shinigami" persona, explained to his friends about Murdock's intentions, beginning with the reality that their Cosmic Era was merely one point in time of an era known as the Dark History. Murdock, having studied this forbidden knowledge, wanted to bring about the resurrection of this lost time by launching an abandoned PLANT filled with nuclear weapons at Earth. But this would pale in comparison as they observed when Angel Halo, the most devastation satellite weapon ever made during the Dark History's "Universal Century", had been reborn under GHOST's control.

The GHOST fleet of Drowen-class warships, powerful battlecruisers that were almost unstoppable with both miniaturized versions of the GENESIS cannon and nearly ten mobile suits per ship, engaged the Archangel as the former Alliance ship fought valiantly to the bitter end. As the battle intensified, most began to experience flashback "voices", later attributed to Angel Halo's presence disrupting the fabric of space-time. These only hinted at the terrible power the satellite could wield, a power Kira experienced as he fought Murdock and his CONCEPT-X 6-1-2B ReTURN-X mobile suit. The mobile suit, built using the remains of an ancient technology found on the moon, was far more powerful than the Reverse Freedom and nearly destroyed it. Cagalli, using her IWSP-equipped Strike Rouge, intervened long enough for Kira to engage the W.I.N.G. mode on his mobile suit and end Murdock's threat forever. He then headed for Angel Halo and, while there, managed to destroy the ancient satellite.

The year remains Cosmic Era 0073 and, as the combatants return to their former lives, some find that peace is a concept that will once again be beyond their reach...

* * *

Shinn Asuka looked around his surroundings, horror sinking in as the magnitude of what he was seeing finally hit home. Around him were all manner of bodies and wreckage, no doubt the hapless victims of the Earth Alliance's attempt to subjugate the neutral nation of Orb. Fragmented pieces of rubble and mobile weapon parts were thrown everywhere, only adding to the bloody scene in front of him. Nothing could be heard except the pure silence of the horrific scene before him, the small fires from leaking fuel containers burning silently into the night. 

The raven-haired Coordinator wandered through the carnage as if in a daze, his mind emblazoned with the images of the person he swore to always protect. Mayu, his younger sister, was caught in the battle earlier by accident, another innocent victim of the war's carnage. He could still hear her shrieks of pain ringing in his ears, her voice pleading for her brother to save her in those final moments. Shinn could still feel his sibling's hand pulling away from him as she fell, the light of weapons fire engulfing her tiny form.

He paused as he glanced to the ground, seeing a small pink object buried in the dirt among some wreckage. As he picked it up, the magnitude of what had happened finally overwhelmed his senses.

It was Mayu's cell phone, ringing for someone who would never answer again.

The silence of the battlefield was finally broken with a feral, nearly-inhuman scream of grief from Shinn, a reminder to anyone who heard it of the death that had struck down the innocent.

* * *

Athrun Zala opened the cockpit hatch of the ZGMF-X09-A2 Aegis GUNDAM Mark II, a familiar but unsettling feeling of loss growing in his chest. His mobile suit bore several signs of battle, despite only seeing action recently, the scars of war across its Phase-Shift armor plating in several places. It had served Athrun well in the short space of time he used it, grateful that he didn't need it to fight his friend, Kira Yamato. He was even more grateful to Lacus Clyne, who was able to help him retrieve it from it's abandoned hangar. 

Lacus...

Athrun froze as he saw the nearby mansion in terrific disarray, the once pleasant scenery now marred by destruction. His blood ran cold as he raced toward the ruined dwelling once called home to the pink-haired songstress, the promise he made her burning in his mind as prominently as the stolen kiss they both shared. She had begun to mean something special to him, something Athrun still struggled to define in defiance of his lingering feelings for Cagalli. In spite of what they had shared during the previous war, those feelings were now eclipsed by concern and fear for Lacus's fate. He HAD to find her, for her sake as well as his own.

"Lacus?" Athrun called through the ruined mansion, hoping against hope that she would answer in her sweet-sounding voice. When no reply came he called again, praying to whomever was listening to him that his former fiancée was safe as he wandered through the debris. Only silence met his ears as he dropped to his knees, cursing loudly to himself as he gripped the ground.

'They must've found out about the Aegis Mark II and...' Athrun thought as shut his eyes, trying to block the tears that threatened to break through. He cannot, WILL NOT, cry anymore. He had cried when he thought Kira had died because of him. He had cried when his mother was killed on Junius 7 years before. Athrun was a soldier and GUNDAM pilot. He couldn't afford to cry anymore.

He opened his eyes, seeing that his hands were gripping a piece of torn cloth, white and pink mingled with a piece of paper. Athrun opened it, seeing that most of the words were blurred beyond readability, and grit his teeth in seething anger. The one word that could be read was Precursors.

"Precursors..." Athrun muttered bitterly as he rose to his feet. He could remember the name as something his father mentioned years before. What they were was still an enigma yet he knew them as a group similar to Blue Cosmos, advocating the superiority of Coordinators over Naturals through violent means.

'If the Precursors are involved with Lacus's apparent death...' Athrun thought angrily to himself as he walked away from the rubble that was once a proud mansion, taking out his gun and a pair of orange shades, 'they will definitely feel my wrath. Lacus... I'm going to keep my promise. I swear...' He slipped the shades on without another thought, his destiny now frozen into a need for revenge.


End file.
